‘Endgame’ box office surpasses ‘Titanic’
Blockbuster passes $2 billion mark, is second-highest-grossing film ever
LOS ANGELES – “Avengers: Endgame” continued its global domination at the box office in a secondweek victory lap that saw the blockbuster cross the $2 billion mark in record time and unseat “Titanic” as the second highest-grossing film ever worldwide.
Domestically, newcomers, including thrillers (“The Intruder”), well-reviewed comedies (“Long Shot”) or animated family fare (“UglyDolls”) were left in the dust to pick up the scraps.
Disney estimated Sunday that the Marvel blockbuster added $145.8 million from North American theaters and $282.2 million internationally in its second weekend in theaters, bringing its global total to $2.2 billion.
“Endgame” is one of five movies to reach that threshold and, not accounting for inflation, is now second worldwide only to “Avatar” with $2.8 billion. “Avatar” reached $2 billion in 47 days of release versus 11 for “Endgame.”
“The sprint to $2 billion is unbelievable. We’re in uncharted territory,” says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “Usually films like this are marathoners.”
To reach “Avatar’s” global record, however, “Endgame” will have to turn into a marathoner itself and the summer movie season is only going to get more competitive.
Still, “it’s got a real chance at getting there,” Dergarabedian says.
Domestically, “Endgame,” which is still playing on 4,662 screens, scored the second-biggest second weekend ever with a sum that would be impressive for any film on opening weekend. Even its 59% drop is notable considering how front-loaded it was. “Endgame” has now grossed $619.7 million in North America, making it the ninth biggest of all time, behind “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”
In second place, “The Intruder,” a modestly budgeted ($8 million) thriller with Dennis Quaid and Meagan Good, survived poor reviews and did the best
of the batch with $11 million.
Close behind in third place was “Long Shot,” a politically themed romantic comedy with Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron that failed to make a significant dent against its pricier budget. The film, which was the best reviewed of the newcomers by far, grossed an estimated $10 million against a reported $40 million budget. But word of mouth could also help propel “Long Shot” to profits ultimately.
“‘Long Shot’ has a shot at staying power,” Dergarabedian says. “But there’s a lot of noise to rise above.”
The unluckiest of the new movies was “UglyDolls,” an animated film based on the toys featuring the voices of Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas, Blake Shelton and Janelle Monae, which placed fourth with $8.5 million.
“Captain Marvel” rounded out the top five with $4.3 million.
Industry-wide, the continued success of “Endgame” has also helped the box office deficit, which went from down 13.2% last weekend to down 10.9% this weekend.